BY NKECHI NAECHE-ESEZOBOR—The Founder and Executive Chairman of Baywood Holdings Limited, Emperor Chris Baywood Ibe, has praised the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) for encouraging innovation and digital growth within the country’s financial services sector.
Speaking in Lagos, the Baywood founder, noted that the regulator’s forward-thinking approach recognizes digital ecosystems as the primary pathway to deepening insurance penetration and expanding access across Nigeria.
The commendation follows the recent deployment of an operational web aggregator license granted by NAICOM to CBI Partnering Insurtech Limited, a subsidiary of Baywood Holdings.
According to Ibe, this regulatory approval directly aligns with the Federal Government’s newly assented insurance policy, which is aimed at driving comprehensive financial inclusion through digital transformation.
He revealed that the company invested over a year into building a robust technological infrastructure before securing final regulatory approval.
Ibe stated that while the licensing process was stringent to acquire, it served as the final piece of the puzzle for the firm.
He emphasized that long before receiving the official nod, the company had invested heavily in building the technology and preparing for scale, operating on the principle that operational readiness must always precede market recognition.
Operating strictly as a technology-driven marketplace rather than a traditional insurance underwriter, CBI Partnering Insurtech plans to leverage its web aggregator status to bridge the gap between conventional insurance providers and the uninsured public.
The highly scalable platform is web-based, app-driven, and API-ready, specifically engineered to integrate insurers, Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs), corporate entities, SMEs, and individual retail consumers into a single, unified digital ecosystem.
BY NKECHI NAECHE-ESEZOBOR—Buying and managing insurance policies in Nigeria is about to get as simple as sending a text message, thanks to a new digital initiative aimed at putting complete insurance coverage directly onto smartphones.
CBI Partnering Insurtech Limited, a newly licensed web aggregator and subsidiary of Baywood Holdings Limited, has unveiled an app-driven, web-based marketplace built to dismantle the traditional bottlenecks of the local insurance sector.
Speaking at a media briefing, Executive Chairman Emperor Chris Baywood Ibe explained that the platform was designed with the modern mobile consumer in mind, ensuring that insurance is easy to discover, purchase, and manage from anywhere.
“Whether you are at home, in the office, or traveling across the country, insurance should be entirely accessible via your mobile devices,” Ibe stated.
“For decades, adoption in Nigeria has been constrained not by an absence of products, but by accessibility, complexity, and a lack of customer confidence. We are changing that by bringing the entire ecosystem onto a single digital interface.”
To achieve this, the company is deploying an ecosystem powered by generative AI, advanced algorithms, and interactive chatbots. While clarifying that CBI Partnering Insurtech is a technology marketplace rather than an insurance underwriter, Ibe emphasized that the platform will handle everything from policy creation to seamless claims support right on a user’s phone.
The move comes at a critical time for the industry. With a newly assented Federal Government policy driving digital financial inclusion, Ibe issued a strong warning to legacy underwriters still operating on paper-heavy, offline business models, stating that companies must innovate or face corporate extinction within the next five years.
To ensure consumers have immediate access to a wide variety of mobile-ready products, CBI Partnering Insurtech announced it will provide technical “hand-holding” to traditional insurance companies and Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs).
The tech firm plans to build custom Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) for operators lagging behind digitally, allowing them to connect directly to the mobile platform.
This collaborative framework aims to give retail consumers, micro-businesses, and corporate organizations instant, transparent access to insurance protection at the swipe of a finger
BY NKECHI NAECHE -ESEZOBOR—The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has officially inaugurated a new committee dedicated to fast-tracking the countrywide migration to Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6). The establishment of this specialized board, which took place during an industry event in Ikeja, Lagos, marks a decisive regulatory effort to modernize the nation’s digital infrastructure and secure its electronic future.
A prominent telecom executive, Olusola Teniola of ipNX, has been appointed to the newly formed panel. He joins a distinguished group of private sector pioneers and public sector representatives, including Funke Opeke, panel chairman Muhammed Rudman, vice chairman Chris Uwaje, Mary Uduma, Gbenga Adebayo, Lanre Ajayi, and Latif Ladid. Together, this collaborative body will work alongside key government institutions to oversee the technological shift.
Reflecting on the initiative, Teniola emphasized that upgrading the nation’s internet framework is an immediate necessity rather than a long-term goal. He noted that with skyrocketing data usage and the rapid proliferation of next-generation technologies like 5G, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things (IoT), Nigeria must build a scalable, secure, and globally competitive foundation to support its expanding digital economy.
The newly formed committee is charged with a comprehensive mandate, which includes drafting a national deployment blueprint, monitoring adoption metrics, and providing regular progress updates. Additionally, the team will focus on overcoming existing structural bottlenecks, enhancing local technical capacity, and recommending policy incentives to encourage universal participation.
Achieving widespread implementation will require deep alignment across network operators, internet service providers, corporate enterprises, academia, and state authorities. Industry leaders stress that this transition is a collective responsibility, requiring deliberate investment in public awareness and skill development to ensure Nigeria remains a frontrunner in the global digital landscape.